Bill processing device

ABSTRACT

A bill handling apparatus has a deposit/withdrawal unit ( 2 ) at the inner upper side of a casing ( 1 ), a base unit ( 3 ) at the inner lower side of the casing ( 1 ), and intermediate units ( 4 A- 4 C) between the units ( 2 ) and ( 3 ). The deposit/withdrawal unit ( 2 ) includes a bill introducing mechanism ( 21 ), a bill discharging mechanism ( 23 ) and a conveying mechanism ( 29 ). The base unit ( 3 ) includes a bill storage section ( 31 ), a conveying mechanism ( 32 ) and a taking-in and taking-out mechanism ( 34 ). Each of the intermediate units ( 4 A- 4 C) includes a bill storage section ( 41 ), a conveying mechanism ( 42 ), a taking-in and taking-out mechanism ( 44 ) and a switcher for switching a bill-moving direction. In this way, the elements forming the bill storage sections and transfer mechanisms are made common, the number of bill storage sections can be increased or decreased easily, and bills can be taken in and out of each storage section.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a bill handling apparatus capable of taking aplurality of kinds of bills in and storing and dispensing the billsaccording to the kinds of the bills.

BACKGROUND ART

In various applications of automatic vending machines, game mediumlending machines, ticket machines, money-exchanging machines and likemachines, various bill handling apparatuses capable of taking aplurality of kinds of bills in and storing and dispensing the billsaccording to the kinds of the bills have been conventionally known. Forexample, an apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined PatentPublication No. 11-175804 is constructed such that an apparatus mainunit is integrally provided with three cash boxes for 1000-yen bills,5000-yen bills and 10000-yen bills; when a bill is inserted through abill insertion slot, the kind thereof is discriminated by adiscriminator and the bill is selectively transferred to any of the cashboxes via a conveyer and the like; and the cash box for 1000-yen billsis provided with a dispense roller, a stacking plate on which bills arestacked, and an elevating mechanism for pushing the stacking plate up topress the uppermost one of the stacked bills against the dispenseroller, etc., so that 1000-yen bills can be withdrawn (dispensed fromthe cash box).

In the prior art apparatus disclosed in the above publication, threestages of bill storage sections (cash boxes) are arranged so as to beapplicable to three kinds of bills: 1000-yen bills, 5000-yen bills and10000-yen bills. However, more bill storage sections are sometimesdemanded in order to be applicable to four kinds of bills including2000-yen bills or to five kinds of bills in the case of export toforeign countries. On the other hand, less bill storage sections aredemanded as in the case that it is sufficient for the bill handlingapparatus to be applicable to two kinds of bills depending on users andapplications. Upon meeting such a demand, it is desirable in terms ofrationalization, cost reduction, etc. to enable production of differenttypes of apparatuses having different numbers of bill storage sectionswhile using common elements for the different types of bill handlingapparatuses and commonly using sections of production lines therefor.

However, since the respective bill storage sections and the internalmechanisms such as the conveying mechanism are integrally assembled inthe apparatus main unit in the prior art apparatus, all of the apparatusmain unit, the bill storage sections and the internal mechanisms need tobe largely changed in order to change the number of the bill storagesections.

Further, the cash boxes for 5000-yen bills and 10000-yen bills areexclusively for depositing, and only the cash box for 1000-yen bills isprovided with the mechanism enabling withdrawal in the above prior artdevice. In order to provide various functions including an exchangingfunction and a reverse exchanging function, it is desired to make billsother than 1000-yen bills withdrawable.

In view of the above matters, an object of the present invention is toprovide a bill handling apparatus which can easily increase and decreasethe number of bill storage sections by a necessary and minimum change byusing common elements forming bill storage sections, conveyingmechanisms, etc. and can deposit and dispense bills into and from therespective storage sections.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a bill handling apparatuscomprising a deposit/withdrawal unit and a base unit located at upperand lower sides and one or a plurality of intermediate units locatedbetween the deposit/withdrawal unit and the base unit inside a casinghaving openings for inserting and discharging bills therethrough at anupper part of the front surface thereof, wherein:

the deposit/withdrawal unit includes a bill introducing mechanism havinga discriminating device for bills and adapted to introduce the billsthrough an insertion slot corresponding to the opening for inserting thebills, a bill discharging mechanism for discharging the bills to adischarge slot corresponding to the opening for discharging the bills,and a conveying mechanism which can be driven in forward and reversedirections, one end of which is selectively brought into communicationwith the bill introducing mechanism and the bill discharging mechanismvia a switcher at a rear part of this unit, and the other end of whichis adapted to convey the bills along a bill conveyance path extending toa bottom end portion of this unit;

the base unit includes a bill storage section, a conveying mechanismwhich can be driven in forward and reverse directions and convey thebills within a specified range from the upper end of this unit behindthe bill storage section, and a taking-in and taking-out mechanism forthe bills which can be driven in forward and reverse directions andenables the bills to be taken in and out between the conveying mechanismand the bill storage section; and

each intermediate unit includes a bill storage section, a conveyingmechanism which can be driven in forward and reverse directions andconvey the bills within a range extending from the upper end to thebottom end of this unit behind the bill storage section, a taking-in andtaking-out mechanism for bills which can be driven in forward andreverse directions and enables the bills to be taken in and out betweenthe conveying mechanism and the bill storage section, and a switcher forswitching a bill moving direction between the conveying mechanism andthe taking-in and taking-out mechanism.

With the bill handling apparatus thus constructed, at the time ofdeposit, the kind of the bill inserted through the insertion slot isdiscriminated and sent to the bill storage section specified accordingto the kind of the bill. On the other hand, at the time of withdrawal,the bill is taken out from the bill storage section according to thedesignated kind of the bill and sent to the discharge slot. In this way,a plurality of kinds of bills can be stored in the respective billstorage sections according to the kinds of the bills, and the bills canbe taken out from any of the bill storage sections.

Upon manufacturing a bill handling apparatus having bill storagesections corresponding to the required number of the kinds of the billsto be handled, the number of the bill storage sections can be easilychanged by increasing and decreasing the number of the intermediateunit(s) arranged between the deposit/withdrawal unit and the base unit.In other words, the mechanisms for introducing, discriminating andwithdrawing the bills, the respective bill storage sections and themechanisms for taking the bills in and out of the respective billstorage sections are formed into common units, and the conveyingmechanisms are also incorporated into the respective common units. Thus,the bill storage section and the internal mechanism are formed into acommonly usable unit. Therefore, bill handling apparatuses correspondingto various kinds of bills such as two kinds of bills, three kinds ofbills and four kinds of bills can be obtained by changing the number ofthe intermediate units and changing the size of the casing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view in longitudinal section of a billhandling apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view in longitudinal section of the billhandling apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a front view showing an external configuration of the billhandling apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a side view showing the external configuration of the billhandling apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a construction diagram showing a bill introducing mechanismand a conveying mechanism of a deposit/withdrawal unit of the billhandling apparatus;

FIG. 6 is a construction diagram showing a base unit and an intermediateunit of the bill handling apparatus;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of an assembly of a transport roller shaft;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of an assembly including the transport rollershaft and a stopper roller shaft;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of an assembly including a feed roller shaft and adispense roller shaft;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of an assembly of a separating roller shaft;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of an assembly incorporated with flappers;

FIGS. 12A to 12D are diagrams showing operations of a bill stackingmechanism;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing actuators provided in the bill handlingapparatus;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing sensors provided in the bill handlingapparatus;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a flow of bills at the time of deposit bythe bill handling apparatus;

FIG. 16 is part of a flowchart showing a control executed at the time ofdeposit;

FIG. 17 is remaining part of the flowchart showing the control executedat the time of deposit;

FIG. 18 is a timing chart for an exemplary case where deposit is made tothe intermediate unit at the third stage;

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an operation of the conveying mechanism;

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing operations of a taking-in and taking-outmechanism when a bill is taken into a bill storage section;

FIG. 21 is a timing chart in the case that a bill is returned due to itsnongenuineness at the time of deposit;

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a flow of bills at the time of withdrawalby the bill handling apparatus;

FIG. 23 is part of a flowchart showing a control executed at the time ofwithdrawal;

FIG. 24 is remaining part of the flowchart showing the control executedat the time of withdrawal;

FIG. 25 is a timing chart for an exemplary case where bills are takenout one by one from the intermediate units at the third and firststages;

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing operations of the taking-in and taking-outmechanism when bills are taken out from the bill storage section;

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing the construction of a taking-in andtaking-out mechanism according to another embodiment and an operationthereof when bills are taken out at the lower stage;

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing an operation performed when bills are takenout from the taking-in and taking-out mechanism at the upper stage inFIG. 27;

FIG. 29 is a schematic side view in longitudinal section of a billhandling apparatus according to still another embodiment;

FIG. 30 is a schematic front view in longitudinal section of the billhandling apparatus of FIG. 29;

FIG. 31 is a plan view showing a pressing plate raising mechanism;

FIG. 32 is a side view showing the pressing plate raising mechanism;

FIG. 33 is a section showing an essential portion when being providedwith a bill batch taking-in device; and

FIG. 34 is a perspective view of the bill batch taking-in device.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Entire Construction of BillHandling Apparatus

FIGS. 1 and 2 show an internal construction of a bill handling apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4show an external configuration of the bill handling apparatus. In FIGS.1 to 4, identified by 1 is a casing of the bill handling apparatus. Thiscasing 1 is provided with a box-shaped casing main body 11 having anopen front surface and a door 12 for closing the front surface of thecasing main body 11, and has a box shape of such a specified size as toaccommodate units to be described later. An opening 14 for insertingbills and an opening 15 for dispensing bills are provided at an upperpart of the door 12 on the front surface of the casing 1.

Inside the casing 1, a deposit/withdrawal unit 2 located at an uppermostposition, a base unit 3 located at a bottommost position, andintermediate units 4A to 4C arranged at one or more stages (three stagesin the shown example) are provided between these units 2 and 3. Billsare stored according to the kinds thereof in the respective intermediateunits 4A to 4C and in the base unit 3. For example, 1000-yen bills arestored in the unit 4A at the upper stage, 2000-yen bills are stored inthe unit 4B at the middle stage, 5000-yen bills are stored in the unit4C at the lower stag, and 10000-yen bills are stored in the base unit 3.

If necessary, an auxiliary unit 5 for increasing a space for storingbills is provided above one or a plurality of intermediate units. In theshown example, the auxiliary unit 5 is provided above the intermediateunit 4A.

The respective units 2, 3, 4A to 4C are separable from each other andare attachable to and detachable from the casing 1. The respective units2, 3, 4A to 4C are so supported at one side thereof as to beindividually withdrawable forward with respect to the casing 1 bycoupling supportable portions 17 provided at one side of the units 2, 3,4A to 4C to slide guides 16 provided at one side of the casing 1 in sucha manner as to be slidable in forward and backward directions. Therespective units 2, 3, 4A to 4C are supported on the casing 1 at oneside thereof in order to avoid mutual interference of the unitsupporting portions, which are provided at the other sides of the units2, 3, 4A to 4C, with driving force transmitter for transmitting adriving force to conveying mechanisms to be described.

Further, a control board unit 1000 including a main CPU board 101, anauxiliary CPU board 102, etc. and a power supply unit 105 are installedat one side of the casing 1, and the respective units 2, 3, 4A to 4C areelectrically connectable with these control board unit 100 and powersupply unit 105 via detachable connectors.

Specific constructions of the respective units 2, 3, 4A to 4C aredescribed next.

(Construction of Deposit/Withdrawal Unit)

The deposit/withdrawal unit 2 is constructed such that, in a frame 20formed with an insertion slot 20 a and a discharge slot 20 b, a billintroducing mechanism 21 for introducing bills through the insertionslot 20 a, a bill discharging mechanism 23 for discharging bills to thedischarge slot 20 b, and a conveying mechanism 29 are provided. The unit2 is accommodated at an upper inner side of the casing 1 while theinsertion slot 20 a and the discharge slot 20 b are projecting from theopenings 14, 15 of the casing 1.

The bill introducing mechanism 21 includes a discriminating device 22for discriminating the genuineness and kind of the bill near theinsertion slot 20 a, a bill introducing path 210 for guiding the billintroduced through the insertion slot 20 a via the discriminating device22 downward to the back side of the unit 2, feed rollers 211, 212disposed at upstream and downstream sides of the bill introducing path210, a guide roller 213 disposed at an intermediate position of the billintroducing path 210, and the like. The rollers 211, 212, 213 are drivenby a motor 214 via a transmitting mechanism 215 such as a belt as alsoshown in FIG. 13. The bill introducing mechanism 21 further includes asensor 216 for detecting the passage of the bill at a position near thedownstream end of the bill introducing path 23, a pulse sensor 217 fordetecting the number of rotation of the motor 214, etc. as also shown inFIG. 14.

The bill discharging mechanism 23 includes a mechanism for dispensingthe bills to the discharge slot 20 b in response to a withdrawalinstruction and a mechanism for rejecting counterfeit bills and thelike. As also shown in FIG. 5, the bill discharging mechanism 23 isprovided with a feeding belt device 24 disposed at a height positioncorresponding to the discharge slot 20 b for rejecting the payout, atemporary storage section 25 formed by a space above the belt device 24,a guiding device 26 for guiding the bill to the temporary storagesection 25, a pusher device 27 for stacking the bills in the temporarystorage section 25 above the belt device 24, and a rejection chamber 28formed in a space below the belt device 24.

The belt device 24 includes an endless belt 240 provided at thewidthwise center of the deposit/withdrawal unit and endless belts 241provided at the opposite sides of the endless belt 240. The belt 240 inthe middle is mounted between a front pulley 242 and a rear pulley 243having the same diameter, and the belts 241 at the opposite sides aremounted on the front pulley 242 and a rear large-diameter pulley 244. Aprojection 245 for pressing the bill is provided for the belt 240 in themiddle. Further, for the belts 241 at the opposite sides, an auxiliarybelt 246 is so provided as to extend along a specified range of theouter circumference of the rear large-diameter pulley 244.

The belts 240, 241 and the auxiliary belt 246 are driven to be rotatablein forward and reverse directions by a payout rejection motor 247 via anunillustrated transmitter. When these belts are driven in forwarddirection, the bills temporarily stored on the belts 240, 241 areconveyed toward the discharge slot 20 b located forward. When thesebelts are driven in reverse direction, the bills temporarily stored onthe belts 240, 241 are conveyed to the rejection chamber 28 locatedbelow between the rear large-diameter pulley 244 and the auxiliary belt246. The front surface of the rejection chamber 28 is made openable by adoor 280, which is provided with a lock 281.

A shutter 251 which is opened and closed by a solenoid-type actuator 250is provided between the temporary storage section 25 and the dischargeslot 20 b.

The guiding device 26 includes a pair of nip rollers 260, 261 disposedabove the rear part of the belt device 24, a feed belt 262 mountedbetween one nip roller 260 and a transport roller to be described later,and a bill temporary holding frame 263 which has a U-shaped crosssection and is so arranged as to extend in forward and backwarddirections at the opposite widthwise ends of the deposit/withdrawal unit2 at a height position corresponding to the nip rollers 260, 261.

The pusher device 27 includes a pusher member 270 provided above thebelt device 24 so as to face the belt device 24, a pantograph-typeelevator 271 for suspending the pusher member 270 so as to be movableupward and downward between a raised position (phantom line in FIG. 5)located above the bill temporary holding frame 263 and a loweredposition (solid line in FIG. 5) proximate to the belt device 24, and apusher motor 273 for driving the elevator 271 via a cam member 272.

At the time of dispensing or rejecting, a bill P conveyed by theconveying mechanism 29 via the feed belt 262 and the nip rollers 260,261 to be temporarily held on the bill temporary holding frame 263 ispushed down by lowering the pusher member 270 from the raised positionto be separated from the bill temporary holding frame 263. The pushermember 270 is returned to the raised position after letting the bill Pdrop onto the belts 240, 241 of the belt device 24. By repeating theabove operation, a plurality of bills P are temporarily stored in thetemporary storage section 25 on the belts while being stacked one overanother.

As also shown in FIG. 14, the bill discharging mechanism 23 furtherincludes a stack-in sensor 231 for detecting the introduction of thebill to the guiding device 26, a rejection sensor 232 for detecting areflected bill at a rear position of the belt device 24, a remaindersensor 234 for detecting the presence or absence of the bill on thebelts of the belt device 24, a discharge sensor for detecting thedischarge of the bill to the discharge slot 20 b from the belts of thebelt device 24, and sensors 235, 236 for detecting the upward anddownward movements of the pusher member 270, and other sensors.

The conveying mechanism 29 is adapted to convey the bills within a rangeextending from a position corresponding to the downstream end of thebill introducing path 210 to the bottom end of the deposit/withdrawalunit 2, and includes a pair of upper transport rollers 291, a pair oflower transport rollers 292, and a pair of guide plates 293 opposed toeach other between these pairs of rollers. Each pair of rollers are maderotatable together via gears (not shown). The upper and lower rollers291, 292 are made rotatable together by mounting a transmission belt(not shown) between pulleys provided on shafts of one upper transportroller 291 and one lower transport roller 292.

At the upper end of the conveying mechanism 29 is provided anintroduce/discharge switcher provided with a flapper 295. The flapper295 is driven by a solenoid-type actuator 296 to switch its statebetween a state where it opens the bill introducing path 210 to theconveying mechanism 29 at the time of deposit (shown in solid line inFIG. 5) and a state where it closes the bill introducing path 210 at thetime of withdrawal and rejection, thereby guiding the bill conveyed inreverse direction in the conveying mechanism 29 toward the billdischarging mechanism 23 (shown in phantom line in FIG. 5).

(Constructions of the Base Unit and the Intermediate Units)

The base units 3 and the respective intermediate units 4A to 4C are, asshown in FIG. 6, provided with bill storage sections 31, 41, conveyingmechanism 32, 42 for vertically conveying the bills behind the billstorage sections 31, 41, taking-in and taking-out mechanisms 34, 44 fortaking the bills in and out between the conveying mechanism 32, 42 andthe bill storage sections 31, 41, and bill stacking mechanisms 35, 45for stacking the bills in the bill storage sections 31, 41. The baseunit 3 is further provided with a conveyance motor 33 as a drivingsource of the conveying mechanisms 32, 42, and a driving mechanism 36for driving the bill stacking mechanisms 35, 45. The auxiliary unit 5 isprovided with a storage space expanding portion 51 in communication withthe bill storage section 41 of the unit 4A located below the auxiliaryunit 5 and a conveying mechanism 52 provided behind the expandingportion 51 (see FIG. 1).

The bill storage section 31 of the base unit 3 and the bill storagesections 41 of the respective intermediate units 4A to 4C have the sameconstruction, and are each formed of opposite side plates, a bottomplate, a door 310, 410 on the front surface, etc. to define an innerspace capable of storing the bills in a stacked state. The doors 310,410 are provided with locks 311, 411. Bill supporting tables 312, 412are provided at a specified height position in the bill storage sections31, 41.

(Conveying Mechanism)

The conveying mechanism 32 of the base unit 3 is provided with a pair oftransport rollers 320, 321 disposed at an upper part behind the billstorage section 31. One of this pair of transport rollers 320 isincorporated into an assembly of a transport roller shaft 320 a shown inFIG. 7, and the other roller 321 is incorporated into an assemblyincluding a transport roller shaft 321 a and a stop roller shaft 343 ato be described later shown in FIG. 8. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, thetransport rollers 320, 321 and gears 322, 323 engageable with each otherare mounted on the transport roller shafts 320 a, 321 a rotatablysupported on a frame section of the unit via bearings 320 b, 321 b.Further, a pulley 324 is mounted on one transport roller shaft 320 a. Adriving force of the motor 33 is transmitted to both transport rollers320, 321 by coupling the pulley 324 to a pulley 330 mounted on an outputshaft of the conveyance motor 33 via a transmission belt 326 (see FIG.6).

An intermediate gear 327 for transmitting the driving force to the unit4C located above the base unit 3 is in mesh with the gear 322 (see FIG.6). This intermediate gear 327 is located at the upper end of the unit3. Further, a pulley 321 c for transmitting the driving force to thestop roller shaft 343 a via a belt 329 is mounted on the other transportroller shaft 321 a (see FIG. 8).

The conveying mechanism 42 of each intermediate unit 4A to 4C is, asshown in FIG. 6, provided with a pair of upper transport rollers 420,421 and a pair of lower transport rollers 430, 431. The upper transportrollers 420, 421 are mounted similar to the transport rollers 320, 321of the base unit 3 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. In other words, thetransport rollers 420, 421 and gears 422, 423 engageable with each otherare mounted on transport roller shafts 420 a, 421 a rotatably supportedon a frame section of the unit. A pulley 424 is mounted on one transportroller shaft 420 a, whereas a pulley 421 c for transmitting the drivingforce to a stop roller shaft 443 a via a belt 429 is mounted on theother transport roller shaft 421 a.

Gears (not shown) engageable with each other are mounted on transportroller shafts bearing the pair of lower transport rollers 430, 431, anda pulley 432 is mounted on one of these transport roller shaft (see FIG.6). The lower transport rollers 430, 431 and the upper transport rollers420, 421 are made rotatable together by mounting a transmission belt 426between the pulley 432 and the pulley 424 mounted on the upper transportroller shaft 420 a. Further, an intermediate transmission gear 427 inmesh with the gear 422 mounted on one upper transport roller shaft 420 ais disposed at the upper end of the unit, whereas the gear 432 mountedon one lower transport roller shaft is engaged with the intermediatetransmission gear 327 or 427 provided in the unit immediately below toenable the transmission of the driving force from the lower unit to theconveying mechanism 42 of this unit.

(Taking-in and Taking-out Mechanism)

The taking-in and taking-out mechanism 34 of the base unit 3 and thetaking-in and taking-out mechanism 44 of the respective intermediateunits 4A to 4C have the same construction and are, as shown in FIG. 6,provided with feed rollers 340, 440 located behind the bill storagesections, dispense rollers 341, 441 located in the bill storagesections, conveyance belts 342, 442 provided between these rollers, stoprollers 343, 443 which are first bill passage restricting rollersdisposed in proximity to and above the feed rollers 340, 440, andseparating rollers 344, 444 which are second bill passage restrictingrollers disposed at positions more toward the bill storage sections thanthe stop rollers 343, 443 and proximate to and above the conveyancebelts 342, 442.

The feed rollers 340, 440 are coupled via gears or the like todispensing motors 345, 445 which are provided in the respective units 3,4A to 4C and rotatable in forward and backward directions. By therotation of the dispensing motors 345, 445 in a specified direction orreverse direction, the feed rollers 340, 440, the conveyance belts 342,442 and the dispense rollers 341, 441 moved by the feed rollers 340, 440are driven in a bill taking-in direction or a bill taking-out direction.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, the feed rollers 340, 440 and thedispense rollers 341, 441 are respectively mounted on feed roller shafts340 a, 440 a and dispense roller shafts 341 a, 441 a rotatably supportedon the frame sections of the units. Pulleys 340 b, 440 b and pulleys 341b, 441 b on which the conveyance belts 342, 442 are mounted are providedon these roller shafts 340 a, 440 a and 341 a, 441 a, and gears 340 c,440 c are mounted on the feed roller shafts 340 a, 440 a. The gears 340c, 440 c are coupled to the dispensing motors 345, 445 via intermediategears 343 e, 443 e mounted on the stop roller shafts 343 a, 443 a to bedescribed later and intermediate gears 346, 446 shown in FIG. 20.

The stop rollers 343, 443 are rotated in the bill taking-in direction asthe transport rollers 320, 420 are rotated at the time of deposit whilebeing stopped at the time of withdrawal. Specifically, as shown in FIG.8, a plurality of stop rollers 343, 443 are mounted at specifiedintervals on the stop roller shafts 343 a, 443 a, and pulleys 343 c, 443c rotatable together with the pulleys 321 c, 421 c mounted on thetransport roller shafts 321 a, 421 a via the belts 329, 429 are alsomounted on these stop roller shafts 343 a, 443 a. One-way clutches arebuilt in bearings 343 b, 443 b for bearing the stop roller shafts 343 a,443 a and in the pulleys 343 c, 443 c so that the stop rollers 343, 443are rotatable only in one direction.

At positions near one ends of the stop roller shafts 343 a, 443 a,pulleys 343 d, 443 d on which square belts 347, 447 are mounted forrotating the stop rollers 343, 443 together with the separating rollers344, 444 are mounted and intermediate gears 343 e, 443 e in mesh withthe gears 340 c, 440 c of the feed roller shafts 340 a, 440 a arerotatably mounted.

The separating rollers 344, 444 are rotated together with the stoprollers 343, 443 at the time of deposit, and are stopped at the time ofwithdrawal. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 10, pulleys 344 c, 444 c onwhich the square belts 347, 447 are mounted for rotating the separatingrollers 344, 444 together with the stop rollers 343, 443 are mounted onseparating roller shafts 344 a, 444 a on which the separating rollers344, 444 are mounted, and one-way clutches are built in bearings 344 b,444 b for bearing the separating roller shafts 344 a, 444 a.

In each intermediate unit 4A to 4C, a deposit/withdrawal switcherprovided with flappers 448 for switching a bill moving path is providedbetween the conveying mechanism 42 and the taking-in and taking-outmechanism 44. The flappers 448 are mounted on a shaft member 448 arotatably supported on the frame section of the unit via bearings 448 bas shown in FIG. 11. An end 448 c of the shaft member 448 a is coupledto a solenoid-type actuator 449 (shown in FIG. 6), and the shaft member448 a is rotated by this actuator 449, whereby the flappers 448 areswitched between an operative state where the bill can be taken in andtaken out by being guided between a position immediately below the uppertransport rollers 420, 421 and a position near the feed roller 440(state shown in solid line in FIG. 19) and a retracted state where thebill is permitted to pass the conveying mechanism 42 (state shown inphantom line in FIG. 19).

Further, a guide member 348 is fixedly provided between the conveyingmechanism 32 and the taking-in and taking-out mechanism 34 in the baseunit 3.

(Bill Stacking Mechanism)

The bill stacking mechanism 35 of the base unit 3 and the bill stackingmechanisms 45 of the respective intermediate units 4A to 4C havesubstantially the same construction and are, as shown in FIG. 6,provided with a pair of left and right separating plates 350, 450,movable members 352, 452 for movably holding the separating plates 350,450 upward and downward, and pressing plates 353, 453 for pressing thestacked bills.

More specifically, as also shown in FIG. 12, the separating plates 350,350 narrowly extending in forward and backward directions are arrangedat the opposite lateral sides of the bill supporting tables 312, 412 andthe pressing plates 353, 453 are arranged above the tables 312, 412between the separating plates in the bill storage sections 31, 41. Theseparating plates 350, 350 have projections 351, 451 having an L-shapedcross section along their inner edges and are held by the movablemembers 352, 452 mounted movably upward and downward on the side platesof the bill storage sections 31, 41 so that the projections 351, 451 canbe moved upward and downward between a raised position where theprojections 351, 451 are located above bill supporting surfaces (uppersurfaces) of the tables 312, 412 and a lowered position where they arelocated below the bill supporting surfaces.

When the separating plates 350, 450 are located at the raised positionbefore the bills are stacked, the pressing plates 353, 453 are placed onthe projections 351, 451 of the separating plates 350, 450 as shown inFIG. 12A. When the separating plates 350, 450 are lowered after the billP is conveyed onto the tables 312, 412 in this state, the projections351, 451 of the separating plates 350, 450 pass at the sides of thetable 312, 412 while bending the opposite side portions of the bill Pand the pressing plate 353, 453 is placed on the bill P on the table312, 412 as shown in FIG. 12B. When the separating plates 350, 450 reachthe lowered position as shown in FIG. 12C, the side edges of the bill Pare separated from the projections 351, 451 and are returned to anunbent state as shown in FIG. 12C. When the separating plates 350, 450are moved upward again thereafter, the bill P and the pressing plates353, 453 pressing the bill P is held on the projections 351, 451 of theseparating plates 350, 450 and the bill P is taken onto the table 312,412 below the separating plates 350, 450 as shown in FIG. 12D. The billsP are stacked by repeating the operations of FIGS. 12A to 12D.

Referring back to FIG. 6, the driving mechanism 36 for driving the billstacking mechanism is provided in the base unit 3 and includes aneccentric cam 362 driven by a lifter motor 360 via a gear 361 and asubstantially triangular lifter 363 which is engaged with an eccentricshaft of the cam 362 to move upward and downward as the cam 362 isrotated. By coupling the movable member 352 of the bill stacking device35 to the lifter 363, the separating plates 350 can be moved upward anddownward as the lifter motor 360 is driven.

In order to transmit the driving force of the driving mechanism 36 tothe respective intermediate units 4A to 4D, a plate piece 355 made of aferromagnetic material such as an iron plate is provided at the upperend of the movable member 352, whereas a plate piece 455 made of aferromagnetic material such as an iron plate is provided at the upperend of the movable member 452 of each intermediate unit 4A to 4C and amagnet 456 is mounted at the bottom end thereof. The movable memberslocated immediately one over the other are coupled by the attraction ofthe magnet 456 and the plate piece 355 or 455 at the upper end of themovable member of the lower unit, whereby the driving force forelevating the movable member is transmitted from the lower unit to theupper unit. Identified by 357, 457 are guide rollers for the movablemembers 352, 452.

(Constructions of the Auxiliary Unit, etc.)

The auxiliary unit 5 is provided with the storage space expandingportion 51 in communication with the bill storage section 41 of the unit4A located there below and the conveying mechanism 51 behind theexpanding portion 51. Although not shown in detail, the conveyingmechanism 52 includes a pair of upper rollers and a pair of lowerrollers as in the conveying mechanisms 42 of the intermediate units 4Ato 4C, gears mounted on the respective roller shafts, a transmissionbelt mounted between pulleys provided on one upper roller shaft and onelower roller shaft, and an intermediate transmission gear in mesh withthe gear provided on one upper roller shaft. The respective rollers arerotated together, and the driving force is transmitted from the lowerunit while being transmitted to the upper unit.

In the base unit 3 and the intermediate units 4A to 4C, end sensors 315,415 for detecting the absence of the stacked bills are provided in thebill storage sections, count sensors 328, 428 are provided in theconveying mechanism 32, 42, and sensors 358, 359 for detecting theupward and downward movements of the separating plates 350, 450 areprovided in the bill stacking mechanisms 35, 45 (see FIG. 14).

(Operation of the Bill Handling Apparatus)

A flow of bills when deposit is made to the bill handling apparatus isschematically as shown in FIG. 15, and the operation of the billhandling apparatus at the time of deposit is as shown in FIGS. 16 to 20,whereas the operation thereof in the case that a counterfeit bill isdeposited is as shown in FIG. 21. Further, a flow of bills whenwithdrawal is made from the bill handling apparatus is schematically asshown in FIG. 22, and the operation of the bill handling apparatus atthe time of withdrawal is as shown in FIGS. 23 to 26.

With reference to FIGS. 15 to 26, the operations of the bill handlingapparatus are successively described for a usual case of deposit, a casewhere a counterfeit bill is deposited, a usual case of withdrawal, and acase where rejection is necessary at the time of withdrawal.

(1) Operation at the Time of Deposit

The operation at the time of deposit is as follows. Whether or not abill has been inserted through the bill insertion slot 20 a is checkedin accordance with a signal from a sensor (not shown) provided near thebill insertion slot 20 a in Step S1 of a flowchart of FIG. 16. Whenbeing inserted, the bill is introduced to the bill introducing path 210through the discriminating device 22 by the driving of the motor 214 ofthe bill introducing mechanism 21, and the genuineness and the kind ofthis bill are discriminated during this time in Step S2. At this time,the bill is introduced at a relatively low speed by the driving of themotor 214. The conveyance motor 33 is also driven in forward directionas a preparation for the conveyance by the conveying mechanism. Theconveyance motor 33 is driven at a higher speed than the motor 214 inorder to increase a moving speed of the bill when the bill istransferred to the conveying mechanism via the bill introducingmechanism 21.

Next, the genuineness of the bill is judged in Step S3, the unit intowhich the bill should be taken is determined according to the kind ofthe discriminated bill if the bill is discriminated to be genuine, andvarious mechanisms necessary to take the bill in are driven in Step S4.Specifically, the conveyance motor 33 continues to be driven, the lifter363 is raised by driving the lifter motor 360 as a preparatory operationto stack the bills, the actuator 449 of the deposit/withdrawal switcheris driven to introduce the bill to the bill storage section 41 of theunit in the case that the unit in conformity with the kind of the billis any of the intermediate units 4A to 4C, and the dispensing motor 445or 345 of the unit in conformity with the kind of the bill is driven(Step S4).

For example, in the case that the bill is discriminated to be a 5000-yenbill, the lifter motor 360 is driven, the conveyance motor 33 is drivenin forward direction at high speed, and the actuator 449 and thedispensing motor 445 of the intermediate unit 4C at the third stage aredriven as shown in FIG. 18. In this way, the conveying mechanisms 32, 42are driven as shown in solid-line arrows in FIG. 19, and the actuator449 of the unit 4C is brought to a state shown in solid line in FIG. 19,whereby the bill being conveyed downward by the conveying mechanism isintroduced to the taking-in and taking-out mechanism 44 of the unit 4Cby the flappers 448 of the unit 4C after passing the units 4A, 4B, andis further taken into the bill storage section 41 after being conveyedover the feed belt 442 by the rotation of the feed roller 440, the feedbelt 442, the dispense roller 441, the stop roller 443 and separatingroller 444 which are driven by the dispensing motor 44 as shown inarrows in FIG. 20.

In such a bill taking-in operation, the bill can be stably and securelytaken to a specified position in the bill storage section 41 by the feedroller 440, the feed belt 442 and two rollers 443, 444 disposed abovethem. Particularly, since the bill can be taken to the more backwardside of the bill storage section 41 as compared to a case where theseparating roller 444 is not provided, the bill is less likely to bejammed and get caught by an other member while being taken in andstacked, with the result that the bill can be securely and stably takenin and stacked.

The motor 214 of the bill introducing mechanism is stopped after thebill passes the sensor 216 at the downstream side of the billintroducing path 210 (Step S5). Further, the conveyance motor 33 and thedispensing motor 445 or 345 are stopped after the bill passes the lastcount sensor based on checks made on the passage of the bill by thecount sensors provided in the conveyance path to the unit in conformitywith the kind of the bill (Steps S6 to S8). After the bill is taken in,the lifter motor 360 is so driven to lower the lifter 363 of the billstacking mechanism (Step S9).

(2) Operation in the Case that a Counterfeit Bill is Deposited.

If the bill is discriminated to be counterfeit in Step S3, a controlshown in Steps S11 to S19 of FIG. 17 and a timing chart of FIG. 21 isexecuted. Specifically, the actuator 296 of the introduce/dischargeswitcher is driven when the bill passes the uppermost count sensor 428,whereby the flapper 295 guides the reversely conveyed bill toward thebill discharging mechanism 23 (Step S11). Subsequently, the conveyancemotor 33 is switched to rotate in reverse direction (Step S12) and thenthe conveyance motor 33 is stopped when the bill passes the stack-insensor 231 (Steps S13, S14). Further, the pusher motor 273 is so drivento lower the pusher 270.

In this way, the counterfeit bill having been conveyed to anintermediate position of the conveyance path is guided toward the billdischarging mechanism 23 in a switch-back manner, and is stored in thetemporary storage section 25 on the belt device 24 by the aforementionedoperations of the guiding device 26 and the pusher device 27.

Further, the payout rejection motor 247 is driven in forward direction(Step S16), whereby the counterfeit bill is conveyed to the dischargeslot 20 b. The payout rejection motor 247 is stopped after a trailingend of the bill passes the remainder sensor 233, and then the pushermotor 273 is so driven to return the pusher 270 to the raised positionand the payout rejection motor 247 is driven until the belt device 24 isreturned to its initial position when a withdrawal of the bill from thedischarge slot 20 b is confirmed in accordance with a signal from thedischarge sensor 234.

(3) Operation at the Time of Withdrawal

At the time of withdrawal, the kinds and the number of the bills to bedispensed are determined by the control board unit 100, the bills aretaken out from the bill storage sections of the units in conformity withthe kinds of the bills to be dispensed by controlling the correspondingmotors, solenoids, etc. and are discharged through the discharge slot 20b via the temporary storage section 25.

Specifically, the conveyance motor 33 is first driven in reversedirection at high speed in response to a payout order in Step S101 of aflowchart of FIG. 23. In Step S102, the dispensing motor 445 or 345 ofthe unit in conformity wit the kind of the bills to be dispensed aredriven and the actuator 449 of the deposit/withdrawal switcher is drivenin the case that the unit in conformity with the kind of the bill is anyof the intermediate units 4A to 4C. For example, in the case of takingthe bill out from the bill storage section 41 of the intermediate unit4C at the third stage, the conveyance motor 33 is driven in reversedirection and the dispensing motor 445 and the actuator 449 of this unit4C are driven.

Then, as shown in arrows in FIG. 26, the feed roller 440, the feed belt442 and the dispense roller 441 are driven in the bill taking-outdirection to dispense the bill P. In this case, since the stop roller443 and the separating roller 444 are held in their stopped states atthe time of withdrawal as described above, the passage of the bills isfirst restricted by the separating roller 444 and only a small number ofbills P out of those stacked in the bill storage section 41 pass theseparating roller 444. The passage of the bills is further restricted bythe stop roller 443, with the result that the bills are dispensed one byone.

Since the bills are separated at two stages by the separating roller 444and the stop roller 443 in this way, a multiple feed of bills where aplurality of bills are dispensed in an overlapping state can be securelyprevented.

The dispensed bill is moved upward via the conveying mechanism 42, 52,29. The actuator 296 of the introduce/discharge switcher is driven (StepS103) at the time of withdrawal, whereby the flapper 295 is brought to astate shown in phantom line in FIG. 5 and the bill is guided toward thebill discharging mechanism 23. The dispensing motor 445 is stopped uponthe elapse of a specified time after the bill is dispensed (Step S104).

The conveyance motor 33 is stopped (Steps S105, S106) when the billguided toward the bill discharging mechanism 23 passes the stack-insensor 231, and the pusher motor 273 is so driven as to lower the pusher270 (Step S107). In this way, the bill is stored in the temporarystorage section 25 on the belt device 24 by the aforementionedoperations of the guiding device 26 and the pusher device 27.

It is then discriminated whether the bill is a rejected bill (StepS108). Unless the bill is a rejected bill, it is discriminated whetherall the requested bills have been dispensed (Step S109). If thediscrimination result in Step S109 is negative, this routine returns toStep S101 after the pusher motor 273 is driven to return the pusher 270to the raised position (Step S110).

The aforementioned operations of Steps S101 to S109 are repeated untilall the requested bills are dispensed and stored in the temporarystorage section. For example, in the case of a request to dispense one5000-yen bill and one 1000-yen bill, the 5000-yen bill and the 1000-yenbill are stacked in the temporary storage section 25 on the belt device24 by successively performing reverse driving of the conveyance motor33, driving of the dispensing motor 445 of the intermediate unit 4A atthe first stage and the actuator 449 of the deposit/withdrawal switcher,driving of the actuator 296 of the introduce/discharge switcher anddriving of the pusher motor 273 after successively performing reversedriving of the conveyance motor 33, driving of the dispensing motor 445of the intermediate unit 4C at the third stage and the actuator 449 ofthe deposit/withdrawal switcher, driving of the actuator 296 of theintroduce/discharge switcher and driving of the pusher motor 273 as alsoshown in FIG. 25.

After a specified number of bills conforming to the request aredispensed and temporarily stored, operations similar to those of StepS16 to S19 are performed in Steps S111 to S114. As a result, thespecified number of bills stored in the temporary storage section 25 areconveyed to the discharge slot 20 b at once.

(4) Operation in the Case that Rejection is Necessary at the Time ofWithdrawal

If rejection is discriminated to be necessary due to a multiplewithdrawal in Step S108, the payout rejection motor 247 is driven inreverse direction in Step S115 of FIG. 24 (see broken line in FIG. 25),whereby the bill is conveyed to the rejection chamber 28. After the billis conformed to have passed the remainder sensor 233 and further therejection sensor 232, the belt device 24 is returned to its initialposition and the payout rejection motor 247 is stopped.

(Functions and Effects)

A plurality of kinds of bills can be handled by taking in, withdrawingand rejecting the bills as described above.

Particularly, upon manufacturing this bill handling apparatus, thenumber of the bill storage sections in conformity with the requestedkinds of bills to be handled can be easily set and changed.

More specifically, the mechanisms for introducing, discriminating andwithdrawing the bills, the respective bill storage sections and themechanisms for taking the bills in and dispensing the bills from therespective bill storage sections are formed into common units: thedeposit/withdrawal unit 2 at the top stage, the base unit 3 at thebottom stage and the intermediate units 4A to 4C between the units 2 and3, and the conveying mechanisms 29, 32, 42 are incorporated in therespective units. Thus, the bill storage section and the internalmechanism are formed into a commonly usable unit. Therefore, billhandling apparatuses corresponding to various kinds of bills can beobtained by changing the number of the intermediate units and changingthe size of the casing. For example, the shown bill handling apparatushaving the intermediate units 4A to 4C at three stages correspond tofour kinds of bills. The bill handling apparatus corresponds to threekinds of bills if the number of the intermediate units is reduced to twowhile corresponding to two kinds of bills if it is reduced to one.Further, if the number of the intermediate units is increased from theshown example, the bill handling apparatus can correspond to five ormore kinds of bills.

Further, since the respective units 2, 3, 4A to 4C are individuallywithdrawal from the casing 1 in this embodiment, repair, exchange andthe like can be easily done in the case of maintenance of the respectiveunits and in the case of a defect or a damage in some of the units.

Further, since the conveyance motor 33 as a driving source for theconveying mechanisms is provided in the base unit 3 and the drivingforce thereof is transmitted to the conveying mechanisms of therespective units via the transmitter, the conveying mechanisms 29, 32,42 of the respective units can be synchronously driven by one drivingsource. Furthermore, since the gears (intermediate transmission gears327, 427 and the gears in mesh therewith) are used in the transmittingportions between the units, the transmitting portions between the unitsare easily separable when the unit is separated or individuallywithdrawn from the casing while being easily connectable (engageable)when the units are combined.

Further, the dispensing motors 345, 445 as the driving portions of thetaking-in and taking-out mechanism are individually provided in the baseunit 2 and the respective intermediate units 4A to 4C and the flappers446 (switcher) and the actuators 449 as the driving portions of theflappers 446 are individually provided in the respective intermediateunits 4A to 4C. Thus, operations of taking the bills into the billstorage sections and operations of taking the bills out of the billstorage sections can be individually controlled for each of the billstorage sections.

Further, since the auxiliary unit 5 is provided atop one intermediateunit 4A in the apparatus of this embodiment, the storage space of thebill storage section of this intermediate unit 4A can be increased.Accordingly, this intermediate unit 4A may be allotted to the kind ofbills expected to be stored in large quantity.

It should be noted that the auxiliary unit 5 may be provided for theother intermediate unit 4B or 4C or the base unit 3 and may be omittedif there is no demand for increasing the storage space.

(Other Embodiments)

Several other embodiments are described below.

(1) Another Example of the Taking-in and Taking-out Mechanism

Although the dispensing motor 345 is provided for each of the taking-inand taking-out mechanisms of the base unit 3 and the intermediate units4A to 4C in the foregoing embodiment, one dispensing motor 645 may becommonly used for the taking-in and taking-out mechanisms of the twounits arranged one over the other (e.g., the base unit 3 and theintermediate unit 4C) as shown in FIGS. 27 and 28.

Specifically, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 27 and 28, the dispensingmotor 645 and the feed roller 340 of the taking-in and taking-outmechanism 34 at the lower stage are coupled via the first intermediategear 346 mounted on the intermediate gear shaft and the secondintermediate gear 343 e rotatably mounted on the stop roller shaft 343a, and the dispensing motor 645 and the feed roller 440 of the taking-inand taking-out mechanism 44 at the upper stage are coupled via only oneintermediate gear 646.

By changing the number of the transmission gears at the lower and upperstages in this way, the feed rollers 340, the feed belt 342 and thedispensing roller 341 of the taking-in and taking-out mechanism 34 atthe lower stage are driven in the bill taking-out direction when thedispensing motor 645 is driven in a specified direction (clockwisedirection) as shown by an arrow in FIG. 27, whereas the feed rollers440, the feed belt 442 and the dispensing roller 441 of the taking-inand taking-out mechanism 44 at the upper stage are driven in the billtaking-out direction when the dispensing motor 645 is driven in adirection (counterclockwise direction) reverse from the one in FIG. 15as shown by an arrow in FIG. 28.

Such an arrangement reduces the number of the dispensing motors, whichis advantageous in reducing the production costs and making theapparatus smaller and lighter. In this embodiment, by providing the feedrollers 340, 440 with a one-way clutch, the feed roller 440 and the likeof the taking-in and taking-out mechanism 44 at the upper stage may bestopped when the dispensing motor 645 is driven in the specifieddirection to drive the feed roller 340 and the like of the taking-in andtaking-out mechanism 34 at the lower stage in the bill taking-outdirection, whereas the feed roller 340 and the like of the taking-in andtaking-out mechanism 34 at the lower stage may be stopped when thedispensing motor 645 is driven in the reverse direction to drive thefeed roller 440 and the like of the taking-in and taking-out mechanism44 at the upper stage in the bill taking-out direction.

(2) Other Examples of the Combination of the Units and the Structure ofthe Door

FIGS. 29 and 30 show another embodiment. In this embodiment, thedeposit/withdrawal unit 2, the respective intermediate units 4A to 4C,the auxiliary unit 5 and the base unit 3 are coupled to each other; aninternal construction formed by these units and the members belonging tothese units is entirely withdrawal from the casing 1; and a door 60 forcovering an entire range extending from the bottom part of thedeposit/withdrawal unit 2 over to the other units is provided on thefront side of the internal construction. In other words, this door 60 isa unitary assembly of the door 280 on the front surface of the rejectionchamber 28 of the deposit/withdrawal unit 2, and the doors 310, 410 onthe front surfaces of the other units of the foregoing embodiment andhas one side thereof rotatably supported on the frames of the units.Identified by 61 is a lock for this door 60.

At the bottom of the casing 1 are provided a slide guiding mechanism 62for slidably supporting the internal construction in inserting andwithdrawing directions and a locking mechanism (not shown) for lockingthe internal construction while accommodating it in the casing 1.

On one side surface of the frame of the deposit/withdrawal unit 2, awindow 64 provided with a door 63 for maintenance is provided at theside of the bill discharging mechanism 23, so that a jammed bill can betaken out through the window 64 by opening the door 63 in the case ofjamming in the bill discharging mechanism 23.

According to this embodiment, in the case of maintenance, repair and thelike, an operation such as maintenance can be easily done by withdrawingthe internal construction forward from the casing 1 after opening thedoor of the casing 1 and unlocking the locking mechanism.

Further, in the case of taking the bills from the rejection chamber 28and the respective bill storage sections 31, 41, the rejection chamber28 and the respective bill storage sections 31, 41 are open forward bysuccessively opening the door 12 of the casing 12 and the door 60 on thefront surface of the internal construction, enabling the bills to betaken out.

In the case of taking the bills from the bill storage sections 31, 41,the pressing plates 353, 453 of the bill stacking mechanisms 35, 45stand as a hindrance if being located at the lowered position. Thus, itis desirable to provide a pressing plate raising mechanism forautomatically raising the pressing plates 353, 453 to a specified raisedposition when the door 60 is opened as described next.

(3) Pressing Plate Raising Mechanism

The pressing plate raising mechanism is described with reference toFIGS. 31 and 32.

As shown in FIGS. 31 and 32, the pressing plate raising mechanism 600includes a movable portion which permits the pressing plate 353 (453) tobe lowered to a position where it presses the bill when the door 60 isclosed while raising the pressing plate 353 (453) up to a specifiedraised position when the door 60 is opened. Specifically, this movableportion is provided with link mechanisms 610 vertically extendible andcontractible which are provided at the opposite sides inside the billstorage section, and a coupling mechanism 62 for coupling the door 60and the link mechanisms 610.

Each link mechanism 610 includes a pair of links 611, 612 which cross inX-shape and are rotatably coupled to each other at their middleportions. The two links 611, 612 are located between a frame plate 315(415) at the upper end of the bill storage section 31 (41) and thepressing plate 353, (453), ends of the links 611. 612 at one side (rearends more distant from the door) are rotatably coupled to the pressingplate 353 (453) and the frame plate 315 (415) via pins 613, 614, whereasthe other ends thereof (front ends closer to the door) are so coupled tooblong holes 615, 616 formed in the frame plate 315 (415) and thepressing plate 353 (453) and extending in forward and backwarddirections via bars 617, 618 as to be rotatable and movable within theextension of the oblong holes 616. 617.

Further, the coupling mechanism 620 is provided with a gear 621 mountedon a rotatable shaft of the door 60, an intermediate gear 622 in meshwith the gear 621, a gear 623 in mesh with the intermediate gear 622,and a lever 624 coaxially provided with the gear 623 and having adownward projecting portion 625 at its leading end. The projectingportion 625 of the lever 624 projects downward through an arcuate notch626 formed in the frame plate 315 (415) and faces a position behind thebar 617. The rotatable shaft of the door 60 and the lever 624 arecoupled via the gears 621, 622 and 623 so that the lever 624 is rotatedforward when the door 60 is opened.

The pressing plate 353 (453) is biased downward by an unillustratedbiasing means such as a spring.

The pressing plate raising mechanism 600 including the link mechanisms610 and the coupling mechanism 620 is provided for each of the base unit3 and the respective intermediate units 4A to 4C, and the gears 621 ofthe pressing plate raising mechanism 600 are mounted on the commonrotatable shaft of the door 60 extending vertically along the entirelength. In order to raise the pressing plate 453 of the intermediateunit 4A connected with the auxiliary unit 5 more than those of the otherintermediate units 4A, 4B and the base unit 3 when the door is opened,the positional relationship between the projecting portion 625 of thelever 624 and the bar 617 is changed between the intermediate unit 4Aand the other units to thereby adjust an elevation stroke of the linkmechanism 610.

If the pressing plate raising mechanisms 600 are provided in this way,the pressing plates 353, 453 are raised in all of the base unit 3 andthe intermediate units 4A to 4C when the door 60 is opened, and thebills can be easily taken out from any desired bill storage section.

In the foregoing embodiment in which the doors 310, 410 are individuallyprovided for the respective bill storage sections 31, 41 of the baseunit 3 and the intermediate units 4A to 4C, the pressing plate raisingmechanisms 600 may be provided in the respective bill storage sections.In such a case, the pressing plate raising mechanisms 600 individuallyoperate in the respective units when the doors 310 are opened.

(4) Another Example of the Bill Inserting Portion

FIGS. 33 and 34 show another example of the bill inserting portion. Inthis example, a bill batch taking-in device 7 is detachably mounted onthe deposit/withdrawal unit 2.

The bill batch taking-in device 7 has a box-shaped housing 71 comprisedof a lower housing 71 a and an upper housing 71 b openably and closablycoupled to the lower housing 71 a via a hinge 72. A bill receptacle 70is mounted on the front wall of the lower housing 71 a, and stackedbills PA of a plurality of (e.g., about 20) bills are inserted into thehousing 71 from the bill receptacle 70. Further, a bill send-out opening71 c for sending the separated bills to a downstream side is formed onthe rear wall of the lower housing 71 b.

Inside the housing 70 are provided a guide plate 73 for guiding thestacked bills PA, a bill take-in roller 74 positioned above the guideplate 73, a feed roller 75 located downstream from the roller 74 andforming a bill separator, a return roller 76 and a dispensing motor 77as a driving source.

The bill take-in roller 74 is mounted on a take-in roller shaft 74 awhich is supported on a pivotal roller link 78, and is movable upwardand downward as the roller link 78 is pivoted. Further, a roller gear 74b is mounted on the take-in roller shaft 74 a.

The feed roller 75 is supported on a feed roller shaft 75 a via aone-way clutch (not shown). This feed roller shaft 75 a is coupled tothe dispensing motor 77 via an unillustrated transmitter, and a feedroller gear 75 b is mounted thereon. The feed roller 75 is rotatablewith respect to the feed roller shaft 75 a and is coupled in such astate where it is permitted to rotate by only a specified angle ofrotation (range of an arcuate groove) with respect to the roller gear 75b by engaging a projection 75 c provided on the feed roller 75 with anarcuate groove 75 d formed in the feed roller gear 75 b.

The feed roller gear 75 b and the take-in roller gear 74 b are coupledto each other via an idle gear 79.

The roller link 78 is coupled to the feed roller shaft 75 a via africtionally resisting member or the like so as to be biased in adirection to push the bill take-in roller 74 down as the feed rollershaft 75 a is rotated in the bill taking-in direction (arrow a).

The return roller 76 is pressed against the feed roller 75 from belowand is mounted on a return roller shaft 76 a via a torque limiter 76 b.

The bill batch taking-in device 7 is also provided with a bill sensor(not shown) for detecting the bills being inserted from the billreceptacle 70 into the housing 70.

The bill batch taking-in device 7 thus constructed is detachably mountedon the front surface of the housing of the discriminating device 22incorporated into the bill introducing mechanism 21 by means ofengagement, attachment or screws. For example, the front side of thediscriminating device 22 is formed with a bill insertion opening portionenabling the engagement of a usual bill receiving member mounted whenthe bill batch taking-in device 7 is not mounted. Thus, the billsend-out opening 71 c of the housing 71 is fitted into this openingportion and the housing 71 is fixed to the discriminating device 22 bymeans of, for example, screws. A supporting plate may be provided at aspecified position in an inner upper part of the casing 1 and thediscriminating device and the bill batch taking-in device 7 may bearranged side by side on this supporting plate.

With such an arrangement, when the stacked bills PA are inserted intothe housing 71 from the bill receptacle 70 with the bill batch taking-indevice 7 mounted on the deposit/withdrawal unit 2 inside the casing 1,they are detected by the bill sensor. In response to such a detection,the dispensing motor 77 of the bill batch taking-in device 7 and themotor 214 (see FIG. 1) of the bill introducing mechanism 21 are driven.

In the bill batch taking-in device 7, the feed roller shaft 75 a and thefeed roller gear 75 b are rotated (arrow a) as the dispensing motor 22is driven; the roller link 78 is pivoted downward to press the billtake-in roller 74 against the stacked bills PA (arrow b) as the feedroller shaft 75 a is rotated; and the rotation of the feed roller 75 bis transmitted to the take in roller gear 74 b to rotate the billtake-in roller 74 (arrow c), thereby taking the stacked bills PA in.

Subsequently, the bill take-in roller 74 is rotated by a specifiedamount and the feed roller 75 starts rotating when the leading end ofthe stacked bills PA reaches the feed roller 75. When the first bill istaken in between the feed roller 75 and the return roller 76, therotating force is transmitted from the feed roller 75 to the returnroller 76 through the bill, whereby the return roller 76 is rotatedtogether with the feed roller 75 (arrow d). When two or more bills aretaken in, the return roller 76 is rotated in reverse direction (arrow e)by the action of the torque limiter 76 b because a frictional forceacting between the bills is smaller than a frictional force actingbetween the return roller 76 and the bill, whereby the second andsuccessive bills are pushed back. In this way, the bills P are sent outone by one from the bill send-out opening 71 c.

Although the dispensing motor 77 is provided in the bill batch taking-indevice 7, it may be omitted. Instead, a transmitter including a gear andthe like which is coupled when the bill batch taking-in device 7 ismounted on the deposit/withdrawal unit 2 may be provided between thebill introducing mechanism 21 and the bill batch taking-in device 7, sothat the driving force of the motor 214 of the bill introducingmechanism 21 can be transmitted to the bill batch taking-in device 7.Such an arrangement enables the bill batch taking-in device to besmaller and lighter.

(Summary of the Features of the Present Invention)

The summary of the main features of the construction of the billhandling apparatus described above is as follows.

The inventive bill handling apparatus is, as described above, providedwith the deposit/withdrawal unit and the base unit at the upper andlower sides and one or a plurality of intermediate units located betweenthe deposit/withdrawal unit and the base unit inside the casing, whereinthe deposit/withdrawal unit includes the bill introducing mechanismhaving the discriminating device for the bills, the bill dischargingmechanism for discharging the bills to the discharge slot, and theconveying mechanism which can be driven in forward and reversedirections; the base unit includes the bill storage section, theconveying mechanism which can be driven in forward and reversedirections, and the taking-in and taking-out mechanism for the billswhich can be driven in forward and reverse directions and is providedbetween the conveying mechanism and the bill storage section; and eachintermediate unit includes the bill storage section, the conveyingmechanism which can be driven in forward and reverse directions, thetaking-in and taking-out mechanism for the bills which can be driven inforward and reverse directions and is provided between the conveyingmechanism and the bill storage section, and the switcher for switchingthe bill moving direction between the conveying mechanism and thetaking-in and taking-out mechanism.

In the inventive apparatus, preferably, the driving source for theconveying mechanisms is provided in the base unit; the driving force ofthe driving source is transmitted to the conveying mechanism of the baseunit and also to the respective conveying mechanisms of the intermediateunit(s) and the deposit/withdrawal unit via the transmitter between theunits; and the transmitter between the units are formed of the gears inmesh with each other between the units. With such an arrangement, theconveying mechanisms of the respective units can be driven by onedriving source and the units can be easily combined and separated byusing the gears as the transmitter between the units.

The driving portions of the taking-in and taking-out mechanisms arepreferably individually provided in the base unit and the respectiveintermediate units. With such an arrangement, the operations of takingthe bills into and out of the bill storage section can be individuallycontrolled for the respective bill storage sections.

Further, the auxiliary unit is provided above one or more of the baseunit and the intermediate units. This auxiliary unit preferably includesthe storage space expanding portion in communication with the billstorage section of the unit located right below, and the conveyingmechanism which can be driven in forward and reverse directions and isadapted to convey the bills in the range extending from the upper end tothe bottom end of this unit behind the bill storage section. If theauxiliary unit is prepared, the storage space can be expanded for somebill storage section(s) expected to store a large number of bills.

Further preferably, the casing is provided with the control board unitand the power supply unit, which are electrically connected with therespective units via the detachable connectors. With such anarrangement, the electric systems can be easily connected and separatedas the units are combined and separated.

If the respective units are individually withdrawable from the casing inthe inventive apparatus, it is convenient for the maintenance of therespective units and repair, exchange and the like in the case that someunit(s) has/have a defect, a damage or the like. Alternatively, theentire internal construction comprised of the respective units may bewithdrawal from the casing with these units connected with each other.Then, the construction can be even simpler.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to the present invention, a plurality of kinds of bills can bedeposited and withdrawn and can be stored according to the kinds of thebills and taken out from the respective bill storage sections. Further,the elements forming the bill storage section, the conveying mechanisms,and the like are made common, so that the bill storage sections can beeasily increased and decreased by a necessary and minimum change.

1. A bill handling apparatus comprising a casing having openings formedat an upper part of a front surface thereof for insertion and dischargeof bills therethrough, a deposit/withdrawal unit at a lower position inthe casing and a base unit at a lower position in the casing, at leastone intermediate unit located between the deposit/withdrawal unit andthe base unit inside the casing and an auxiliary unit provided above atleast the base unit, wherein: the deposit/withdrawal unit includes abill introducing mechanism having a discriminating device fordiscriminating bills and adapted to introduce the bills through aninsertion slot communicating with one of the openings for receiving thebills, a bill discharging mechanism for discharging the bills to adischarge slot communicating with a second of the openings fordischarging the bills, and a conveying mechanism that is drivable inforward and reverse directions, one end of the conveying mechanism beingselectively positionable in communication with the bill introducingmechanism and the bill discharging mechanism via a switcher at a rearpart of the deposit/withdrawal unit, an opposed end of the conveyingmechanism being adapted to convey the bills along a bill conveyance pathextending to a bottom end of the deposit/withdrawal unit; the base unitincludes a bill storage section, a conveying mechanism that is drivablein forward and reverse directions for conveying the bills within aspecified range from an upper end of the base unit behind the billstorage section, and a taking-in and taking-out mechanism that isdrivable in forward and reverse directions to take in and out the billsbetween the conveying mechanism and the bill storage section; the atleast one intermediate unit includes a bill storage section, a conveyingmechanism that is drivable in forward and reverse directions to conveythe bills within a range extending from an upper end to the bottom endof the at least one intermediate unit behind the bill storage section, ataking-in and taking-out mechanism that is drivable in forward andreverse directions to take in and out the bills between the conveyingmechanism and the bill storage section, and a switcher for switching abill moving direction between the conveying mechanism and the taking-inand taking-out mechanism; and the auxiliary unit includes a storagespace expanding portion in communication with the bill storage sectionof the unit located right below, and a conveying mechanism that isdrivable in forward and reverse directions and is adapted to convey thebills in a range extending from an upper end to a bottom end of theauxiliary unit behind the bill storage section.
 2. A bill handlingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein a driving source for theconveying mechanisms is provided in the base unit, and a transmitter isprovided in the base unit, the at least one intermediate unit, thedeposit/withdrawal unit and the auxiliary unit for transmitting adriving force of the driving source to the conveying mechanisms of thebase unit, the at least one intermediate unit, the deposit/withdrawalunit and the auxiliary unit.
 3. A bill handling apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein driving sources for the taking-in and taking-outmechanisms are individually provided in the base unit and the at leastone intermediate unit.
 4. A bill handling apparatus according to claim1, wherein the deposit/withdrawal unit, the base unit, the at least oneintermediate unit and the auxiliary unit all are integrated with eachother to be withdrawn from the casing when the deposit/withdrawal unit,the base unit, the at least one intermediate unit and the auxiliary unitare connected with each other.
 5. A bill handling apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the casing includes a control board unit and a powersupply unit, which are electrically connected with the respective unitsvia detachable connectors.
 6. A bill handling apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the respective units are individually withdrawable fromthe casing.